Featured Image Credit: Valve
Steam has made a dramatic change to one of its most popular payment methods in an effort to combat scammers.
Steam as a platform, allows you to pay for games in a variety of different ways, from credit and debit cards to services like PayPal and Klarna.
One thing that you’ll often consistently see in retailers is Steam Gift Cards, allowing buyers to add wallet funds to their account or gift to a loved one to do the same.
Introduced in 2012, Steam Gift Cards proved to be useful for anyone looking to top up on the amount of credit in their account.
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Despite this, it has also become a hotbed for scammers and phishing scams over the years, with common scams including the theft of cards to be resold at a later date, or by tricking customers into giving them gift card codes after payment has been made.
Now, Valve has announced that Steam Gift Cards are being discontinued (via Dexerto).
Valve’s FAQ page reads: “As we have continued to put more and more restrictions in place, scammers have adapted. They continue to have an impact on Steam customers and other unsuspecting individuals. So we've made the difficult decision to end the Steam Gift Card program at retail stores.
“As Steam Gift Cards run out of stock at retail locations, we will not be restocking them. We expect all retailers to be out of stock by the end of 2026. Though we will no longer be selling physical gift cards, you will still have the ability to use your existing gift cards on Steam whenever you choose, subject to local laws.”
While the news is a blow for anyone who buys a lot of Steam Gift Cards, whether it be for themselves, or for friends or family, Valve has outlined ways in which buying through Steam has been made easier than ever.
For starters, digital gift cards continue to be offered, which allow you to directly send a certain amount of Steam wallet funds to someone on your friends list.
Guest checkout is another feature which was added last year, allowing family members and friends to gift Steam users without the need for creating a Steam account and sending a friend request to the user in question.
If you’re still after Steam Gift Cards though, you won’t have long until they’re all run out. The good news is that Valve has said it’ll be honouring all gift card purchases, where you’ll still be able to purchase and add the credit to your account while stocks last.
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